


Anxiety Floret

by somethingaboutamoose



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, blows a kiss to the sky, for the AO3 feed blogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 04:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6890863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingaboutamoose/pseuds/somethingaboutamoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is good at dealing with his anxiety, and Bitty is good at helping him through it when he can't.</p><p>Things get more complicated when Jack starts to get anxiety because of Bitty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anxiety Floret

The first time Bitty witnessed Jack succumb to his anxiety, that’s all he was; a witness.

In Bitty’s defense, Jack was good at hiding it and no one besides Jack himself knew that there was any problem. It was during a team breakfast Bitty’s sophomore year, and Jack had just gotten a random text message from Kent Parson. On top of that was the stress from school, the weight of the hockey team on his shoulders, and deciding what to do after his senior year. Nothing too overwhelming, but halfway through the meal, his mind started reeling and he had to excuse himself to take a few therapeutic breaths in the bathroom. 

‘Reeling’ is the word that Jack and his therapist used to describe his overthinking. Whenever Jack starts thinking of a bad scenario until it’s blown out of proportion into something that he knows is excessive, but can’t stop. Then he replays it over and over in his head, just upsetting himself more. 

Of course, no one could blame Bitty, anxiety is often not something you can see and access. 

The second time was when they were eliminated from the Final Four, and Bitty found him hiding at the loading dock. Bitty thought at the time that Jack was just sad. They were all sad that day. Jack, for him the whole situation was different. For him, it was his fault. It was always his fault. They were doing so well, they were so close. The boys must hate him, he let them down. He didn’t deserve to be their captain, he only weighed them down, and...then Bitty found him. Bitty came over and embraced him, with no shame or hesitation. He could breathe. 

Bitty didn’t know any better. Bitty saw that he was hurting, so he helped. There was nothing to it. 

They had been dating for a while when Bitty saw the worst of Jack’s anxiety. The couple, Shitty, and Lardo were all spending the week together in Providence. Jack still had work duties, so the other three spent a lot of time around the area themselves. 

Bitty was staying with Jack in his apartment while Shitty and Lardo rented a hotel. Around 4:00pm on day three, Bitty was debating on ordering food or taking the challenge to find something to cook in Jack’s disappointing supply in his kitchen. When he had just decided to take up the task, Jack came home. 

He did so quietly, no big announcements, he didn’t even text beforehand to say he was on his way. He simply walked in, took his time putting his things down before even making it known that he was home. 

Bitty was going through his pantry when Jack walked into the kitchen. 

“Oh, hello!” Bitty said enthusiastically. 

Jack put a large bag that he was holding on the counter, “Hey, I got some Chinese food.”

“I was just about to make something, but that sounds good too!” Bitty walked over and began going through the bag to see what he got. 

“If...if you wanted to cook, that’s fine too,” Jack said, “Whatever you want to do.”

Bitty caught that something was wrong. Jack had more or less pressed himself against the wall, far away from Bitty as he could be. He wasn’t making eye contact with Bitty either, instead, staring at a spot on the floor.

“Jack,” Bitty said, “you’re shaking, are you cold?”

Jack looked up, but didn’t look directly at Bitty, more like past him, “No, I’m fine.” He said somewhat harshly, “I’m going to go sit down. Eat something.”

With that, Jack darted out of the kitchen and into the main room. Bitty took a second to wonder what might have happened before he followed his partner. 

Jack was merely sitting on the couch, staring down at his phone. Bitty wasn't sure what to do. Jack was reminding him of earlier in their friendship. Of when Jack was somewhat isolated and hostile. 

So Bitty simply sat down beside him and said, “Are you mad? I’m sorry if I did anything to upset you.”

Jack, as if snapped out of a trance, urgently looked to Bitty, and could only utter the words, “No, that’s not-” before he suddenly took a deep breath inwards, and squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Jack, are you okay?” Bitty said, now very concerned. 

The moment that Bitty put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, the older man broke down in tears. He buried his face in his hands and curled over into his knees. 

“Oh, Jack!” Bitty exclaimed, he scooted over and took Jack into his arms, one hand wrapped along his back, and the other on his knee. 

The two stayed like that for a while. Jack sobbing, letting out whatever it was that he was holding in. Bitty running his hand up and down Jack’s back, confused and concerned, but patient. 

As Jack’s cries turned into hiccups, he managed to let out a, “I-I’m sorry,” 

“Don’t be sorry,” Bitty reassured, “What’s wrong?”

Jack said, no, stated, “You hate me.”

Bitty was so completely taken aback, he lifted his hand off Jack’s back, “What?”

Jack cringed physically, choked out a sob, and said, “I’m-I’m a burden. A-always busy, always working. I’m needy, and annoying, I-I’m not good for you. I...I can’t be better for you. I’m not strong enough, you must be s-so tired of me,”

Bitty didn’t know what to say at first. Jack so suddenly poured out these waves of emotions and insecurities that Bitty didn’t know what to do with. 

Jack was waiting for something, he knew. The man was taking deep, uneven breaths. Staring at floor, as if even he couldn’t believe what he had just put on the table. 

So Bitty did this: he took Jack’s jaw in his hand, and with the strength that was in him, looked directly into his eyes, and said, “How  _ dare  _ you think that I am anything less than completely in love with you, Jack Zimmermann. You are so important to me, and none of those things. Don’t let your head get the best of you, sweetheart.”

Jack looked at Bitty with the expression of a man whose world had been shifted before breaking out in tears again. This time, instead of curling into himself, he pressed his face into the crook of Bitty’s neck, and the younger man accepted him instantly. 

Bitty shushed Jack through the rest of the attack, reminded him to breath and ran his fingers through his hair. 

Eventually, they both could calm down enough to talk, but that wasn’t until after they decided to quietly eat their food and watch a comedy for the rest of the night. Never taking a eye or a hand off each other. 

There was a fourth time that Bitty witnessed Jack’s anxiety coming back to bite. There was a fifth time, a sixth, a seventh, and there will be an eighth. But Bitty was ready, he had an artillery and he was prepared for the worst. Even if the worst were the ones that were directly against him. 


End file.
